In case you couldn’t tell from my Instagram, we just got back from vacation at the beach! It was awesome – different with a baby, to say the least, but awesome. More on that later.

On vacation, all the to-do lists, business, and worries fall to the wayside, and relaxation takes over. Sometimes, though, I make the mistake of letting my times with God slip out of the picture as well. Vacation is the perfect time to be in awe of who God is, and to be grateful for his blessings in my life.
Here are some scriptures that remind me of how awesome God is, while I take in my surroundings with family and friends:

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with you.” – Psalm 139:17-18, NIV

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” – Romans 1:20, NIV

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” – Psalm 19:1-3, NIV

“David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, ‘Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” – 1 Chronicles 29:10-11, NIV

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118:24, NIV

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought, and never fails to bear fruit.” – Jeremiah 17:8, NIV

“There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.” – Deuteronomy 12:7, NIV

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better than for people to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil – this is the gift of God.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11-13, NIV

“Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned a long time ago.” – Isaiah 25:1, NIV

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty – and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works – and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness, and joyfully sing of your righteousness.” – Psalm 145:3-7, NIV

Happy Tuesday! Today I have teamed up with a few fellow bloggers to giveaway a gift card for “Sunglasses” and “Stitch Fix” ($250 value). Summer is here and who wouldn’t love a new pair of shades and outfit?! You can enter below in the rafflecopter, GOOD LUCK!!!

So own up – how many days, for you, were spent outside trying to get the perfect tan? It started as young as elementary school for me. I’m rather on the opaque pale side.

By now, I’ve learned that sunscreen is my friend, and I am quite content with my paper-white tone if it means I won’t get skin cancer and wrinkles. But what I tend to overlook when protecting myself from the sun ends up being something equally critical – my eyes.

I’ve always loved sunglasses for the style, but I rarely take care to be sure that they actually did their job to protect my eyes. Recently, I participated in a webinar sponsored by The Vision Council, and learned some excellent reasons why I need to use sunglasses to protect not only my eyes, but my son’s as well.

Conducting the webinar was Dr. Dora Adamopoulos, who serves as medical advisor for The Vision Council, and is also an optometrist and a mother of two. She presented some stunning facts:

– 1 in 4 Americans rarely or never wear sunglasses

– 2 out of 3 Americans leave eyes unguarded on rainy or cloudy days

– 3 out of 10 Americans do not wear glasses in the winter (I fell in all of these categories)

– More than 1 out of 3 children leave eyes unprotected – and yet they are exposed to approximately 25% of lifetime ultraviolet (UV) exposure to eyes before the age of 18

Sunburns are a fairly obvious sign of exposure to UV rays in your skin, but all too often I write off the signs of exposure to eyes, even while squinting: irritation, redness, hypersensitivity to light. The long-term consequences are just as scary as skin cancer: pterygium or growths on eyes; cataracts or clouding of the lens in the eye; macular degeneration or vision loss; or cancer of the eye, eyelid or surrounding skin. Premature aging is also a consequence.

Most of these things I could understand. But here were the facts I never considered:

– Reflected UV light is just as damaging as direct – water, snow, sand, concrete, and grass all reflect UV

– UV rays are most intense from 8-10am and 2-4pm (double the amount compared to 10am-2pm, which is when I would have thought the most exposure would happen)

– The first signs of cataracts can appear in your 30s

Of course, this completely changed my perspective of getting sunglasses that actually protected my and my family’s eyes. Dr. Adamopoulos mentioned that you should always look for glasses that are marked as having 100% UVA/UVB protection. Darker glasses do not necessarily protect eyes better, and can in fact give greater UV exposure. They also are not always more expensive (although dollar store sunglasses will likely not have UV protection).

And how do you help your kids protect their eyes?

– Monkey see, monkey do – teach them by doing!

– Shop for sunglasses together

– Choose comfortable sunglasses with a velcro strap (you better believe we went out and bought a pair of these) and avoid sunglasses with hinges that can pinch

– Even babies should wear sunglasses!

I really appreciated being able to take part in this webinar! Now I make it a point to check sunglasses for UV protection before I buy them, and am making sure to wear them whenever I go outdoors, no matter what the weather. Theo has been rocking his shades too.

Thank you so much to The Vision Council for the opportunity to get involved in the webinar!

The Vision Council and Nicole Miller provided complementary sunglasses for me and my son, as well as an assortment of outdoor accessories, for my participation in the webinar and this post.